The information contained in the study is of interest to all market participants affected by the payment behaviour of private individuals, most notably retailers, credit institutions, card issuers and, last but not least, the Deutsche Bundesbank itself. Players wishing to foster more innovation in the field of payments need to offer a genuine advantage over established schemes and procedures and, in particular, to heed users’ perceived security needs.

The January 2018 edition of the Monthly Report describes how the internationalisation of German firms is impacting on domestic investment and analyses the importance of banks’ profitability and capital for monetary policy. It also looks at developments in corporate financing in the euro area and includes an article on the finalisation of Basel III.

The December 2017 edition of the Bundesbank's Monthly Report outlines the prospects for the German economy on the basis of macroeconomic projections for 2018 and 2019, with a look ahead at the year 2020. It also analyses German enterprises’ profitability and financing in 2016 as well as corporate margins in selected European countries and takes a look at the Eurosystem’s financial market infrastructure, focusing on the range of services likely to be offered in the future.